Saint-Urbain’s identity for Now Now invites travellers to the hotel, to ultimately step out of it

Now Now, a pod hotel that sits in the heart of Lower Manhattan, is meant to be a home to explorers who are not afraid to go looking for adventures by themselves. Its suite of compact, single-occupancy rooms is custom-made for a different kind of solo traveller, those who are not looking for their hotel to be a destination in and of itself, but rather a portal to new experiences. As much as Now Now invites travellers to step into its rooms, it also urges them to step out of it, and go explore the world that awaits outside of its doors. This conversation between the inside and outside, and the point of transition from one place to another, had to be distilled into the story that Now Now wanted to tell of itself, and so they turned to creative agency Saint-Urbain to craft its identity and visual voice.

“The idea was to create a brand that felt present, immediate, and emotionally open,” Founder & Creative Director Alex Ostroff tells us. “Now Now isn’t a typical hotel, it’s for people who don’t want to spend their whole trip in their room. We wanted the identity to feel like a gentle invitation to connect with the outside world and with yourself. The visuals are meant to feel like a pause, a moment to be here, wherever you are.”

The brand had to speak to the solo traveller, so naturally, the team began thinking about how people gather, how solo travel has changed over the years, and how “a small space can feel bigger than it is when it’s full of intention,” says Ostroff. This exercise was imperative for setting the tone for Now Now’s narrative. “We thought about what it feels like to travel alone: the mix of curiosity, introspection, and sometimes a little bit of magic. That’s why we leaned into warmth, softness, and a brand that never screams. The identity is more about offering a moment of calm and connection than trying to be loud or overly branded,” he adds.

Once the strategy and this intention were fleshed out, everything that came after – from typography, colour palette, hotel collateral, outdoor advertising, motion graphics, digital templates, and merchandise – drew from this focal creative anchor. Just as the brand invites travellers to step through new thresholds, the custom, modular wordmark was imagined as one itself. Built from a system of circles and squares, the wordmark was inspired by architectural forms and keyholes, a point of access and discovery. “We liked the idea that travel itself is a portal, a way of stepping into a new version of yourself or a new city,” explains Ostroff. “Keyholes felt especially relevant because the hotel rooms are small, but they’re also gateways to everything outside. It was about reframing how you see a small space, not as a limitation, but as a launchpad!”

The gravitas of the wordmark – that immediately jumps out at first glance – is complemented by the use of Ginestra as the primary typeface, chosen for its personality and character that doesn’t feel overly designed, much like the rest of the brand. “It has that perfect balance of ‘city’ and ‘human.’ It’s expressive and a little unusual, but still easy to read,” says Ostroff. “Plus, it was created in memory of Nacho Ginestra and has a real story and soul behind it, which felt right for a brand that’s all about meaning and presence.” Ginestra’s charm is quietly supported by neutral, clean sans serifs that hold their own and subtly guide the eye without calling for attention, making more space for the standout logo to live in.

In addition to the typography, colour does a lot of the work in the worldbuilding. The vibrant, shifting gradients became a way to subtly nod to ideas of transition and movement. “The palette was designed to feel like it could shift and change with your mood or the time of day. We also made sure the colours felt warm and human, balancing neutrals with a few bright, unexpected accents,” says Ostroff.

Looking back at the collaboration, Ostroff notes that in building the brand for Now Now, the team at Saint-Urbain was able to dig into something personal, and reference ideas that felt immediately familiar. “A lot of us have travelled solo and know how those experiences shape you. We wanted Now Now to feel like the ultimate brand for today’s young solo traveller,” he says. “A brand people would feel cool identifying with and wearing the merch for. We love the message behind the concept and how it encourages people to live outside their phones. The rooms are small, which might be seen as a flaw, but we really see it as a huge benefit. Even though Now Now’s brand lives in the hotel, the message and meaning are outside of it.”